Geno tells the AAC about the potential for growth

[pap49cba]

LINK

 

[Woof 101]

Out of conference schedule has to be through the roof for us now. Sad but the new one is going to be pathetic blow outs. One has to hope players can get valuable minutes against formadible opponents. This as we have seen in the past and mature at tournament time.

In Geno I trust, but this situation is not doing him the staff or the team any favors. Defeate the team you are facing only goes so far to put fannies in the seats that or test you for tournament competition. We can only hope the ooc schedule remains more than strong. This as the new conference is simply a shell of the one we were part of developing.

 

[Tonyc]

Out of conference schedule has to be through the roof for us now. Sad but the new one is going to be pathetic blow outs. One has to hope players can get valuable minutes against formadible opponents. This as we have seen in the past and mature at tournament time.

In Geno I trust, but this situation is not doing him the staff or the team any favors. Defeate the team you are facing only goes so far to put fannies in the seats that or test you for tournament competition. We can only hope the ooc schedule remains more than strong. This as the new conference is simply a shell of the one we were part of developing.

Woof I liked your reply. What you say I agree with. UConn WCBB will have very little competition in their new conference. OOC schedule will put fannies in the seats the conference games may lack attendance at home. On the road it may be different as UConn if used properly will be a huge draw.

I think at this point UConn has set itself a top WCBB and I don't see anybody coming within double digets this season and if we land A'ja Wilson maybe not for quite a few seasons. UConn WCBB has reached a level that not many teams can see and it you cant see it you cant attain it. Great players are attracted to UConn, because of its tradition, and knowing they will be a FF team almost every year. IMO it will be a fluke if they don't make it the next 3 years. With our recruiting class coming in and if A'ja Wilson comes it may be 7 years. When your an opponent and see UConn on your schedule your thinking that's a loss. This season UConn may have 3 first team AAs, 2-3 on the second and third team AA's and possibly the Freshman of the Year.

 

[DobbsRover2]

And as has been noted in many previous threads, the doomsayers can cry about the falling sky, but the teams in next year's AAC are a decently competitive group that combined would have had the 5th best conference strength rating last year, and in the years beyond as Geno says there is a great chance to build up overall strength and rise to very high levels just like Louisville did after joining the BEast. Along with some departing top teams like ND, UConn is also getting unhitched from a lot of dead wood and joining a group of teams who almost all have reached high ratings in recent years.

But yes we can also pull a Vol and moan about how we need to play nothing but top-10 teams in OOC to get prepared for an NC run -- and somehow expect that such nonsense works. The Huskies in-conference schedule will be fine with what they need to do, and it should be better than what Stanford generally has to play through.

 

[winlots]

As usual, a different take...yet I certainly do understand what has been posted thus far.
Reading over the link with some care, I come away with great appreciation for the leadership Coach showed in providing that message to his colleagues. A tremendous presentation. I come away with excitement for what can be accomplished.

For one used to overcoming alot of long odds (whether by circumstances of my Appalachian birth, limited athletic talents, the presence of formidable challengers in the professional world, etc), I'm looking forward to what the new league can do. I remain one of the idealistic few who hope UCONN will close the door to other "better" offers, should they come, and be the lighthouse beacon for the new members to follow to greatness. Yes, I know the dollar speaks to many, with more and more volume...but that voice does not describe greatness nor point in a laudatory direction.
In terms of the fear of blowouts....we've had our share in the Big East, eh? Personally, I embrace the pursuit of perfection rather than being bored by it. And I'm grateful when the great kids the staff recruited show that they are able to put up yet another "W." Nothing is a given....nothing should be assumed or taken for granted. Any win we get I relish, regardless of the score.

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

1 - There is a lot of truth in his comments as applied to basketball. But as a football conference, the Big East wasn't quite "all that" and C-USA, whence comes this rush of teams, wasn't either. Pending a change in the football landscape (always possible) - that is the real rub facing the new conference.

2 - Tony as always has a well supported rosy view, although perhaps overly optimistic on the AA's. His point about folks thinking they have lost before the game against UConn is well taken, and Geno has said the same. The dangerous teams for you guys are always the ones that haven't lost before they take the court.

 

[Scotter]

Out of conference schedule has to be through the roof for us now. Sad but the new one is going to be pathetic blow outs. One has to hope players can get valuable minutes against formadible opponents. This as we have seen in the past and mature at tournament time.

In Geno I trust, but this situation is not doing him the staff or the team any favors. Defeate the team you are facing only goes so far to put fannies in the seats that or test you for tournament competition. We can only hope the ooc schedule remains more than strong. This as the new conference is simply a shell of the one we were part of developing.

Conference schedule is basically meaningless. I find it a little unsettling to see so many UConn fans complaining about the strength of the conference schedule. Reminds me too much of Tennessee fans.

The only thing that has ever mattered when it comes to strength of schedule is whether you play most of the very best teams in the country so that you know where you stand against other national championship contenders. A team can have a great RPI playing in the Big 12 and be no better off as a national championship contender because they never actually play a true elite team. Geno has made of point scheduling elite teams (He could care less about teams outside the top 10-15) and managed to do that even back when the Big East was considered a weak conference, which wasn't really so long ago. UConn playing the best teams in the country isn't going to change, particularly when UConn has a partner in ESPN to make those games happen.

 

[winlots]

And as has been noted in many previous threads, the doomsayers can cry about the falling sky, but the teams in next year's AAC are a decently competitive group that combined would have had the 5th best conference strength rating last year, and in the years beyond as Geno says there is a great chance to build up overall strength and rise to very high levels just like Louisville did after joining the BEast. Along with some departing top teams like ND, UConn is also getting unhitched from a lot of dead wood and joining a group of teams who almost all have reached high ratings in recent years.

But yes we can also pull a Vol and moan about how we need to play nothing but top-10 teams in OOC to get prepared for an NC run -- and somehow expect that such nonsense works. The Huskies in-conference schedule will be fine with what they need to do, and it should be better than what Stanford generally has to play through.

DOB: Just got back home from RI a bit ago and checked this thread. Hadn't seen your good post , which apparently hit on here while I was composing mine originally, and I wanted to address yours and the one which then followed mine.
Agree with all you have to say and appreciated your putting together that AAC retroactive conference strength data; thought that was very interesting and encouraging. Also especially liked the thought about getting unhitched from current dead wood and replacing it with teams tht have achieved in recent years (though I don't have data on that other than that implied by your conference strength conclusion).
I continue to feel like Geno showed some inspirational leadership in the talk this thread references.

 

[winlots]

Conference schedule is basically meaningless. I find it a little unsettling to see so many UConn fans complaining about the strength of the conference schedule. Reminds me too much of Tennessee fans.

The only thing that has ever mattered when it comes to strength of schedule is whether you play most of the very best teams in the country so that you know where you stand against other national championship contenders. A team can have a great RPI playing in the Big 12 and be no better off as a national championship contender because they never actually play a true elite team. Geno has made of point scheduling elite teams (He could care less about teams outside the top 10-15) and managed to do that even back when the Big East was considered a weak conference, which wasn't really so long ago. UConn playing the best teams in the country isn't going to change, particularly when UConn has a partner in ESPN to make those games happen.

SCOT: good stuff throughout. Speaking of ESPN, I've never been super clear on the reach of SNY. Am interested that re how it helps out-of-state families see games. My untutored thought is that SNY is seen in NY, parts of MA ,NJ and PA, along with CT. But that could be way off. Any one clear on the pertinent facts?

 

[KnightBridgeAZ]

SCOT: good stuff throughout. Speaking of ESPN, I've never been super clear on the reach of SNY. Am interested that re how it helps out-of-state families see games. My untutored thought is that SNY is seen in NY, parts of MA ,NJ and PA, along with CT. But that could be way off. Any one clear on the pertinent facts?

SNY is carried nationally on things like DirecTV, etc., although pro games that they carry are blacked out per the various league's restrictions. Otherwise, it appears to function like any of the various Fox sports networks that fill the same role in other cities.

 

[DobbsRover2]

DOB: Just got back home from RI a bit ago and chandecked this thread. Hadn't seen your good post , which apparently hit on here while I was composing mine originally, and I wanted to address yours and the one which then followed mine.
Agree with all you have to say and appreciated your putting together that AAC retroactive conference strength data; thought that was very interesting and encouraging. Also especially liked the thought about getting unhitched from current dead wood and replacing it with teams tht have achieved in recent years (though I don't have data on that other than that implied by your conference strength conclusion).
I continue to feel like Geno showed some inspirational leadership in the talk this thread references.

Unfortunately, every few weeks until next April there will be another AAC doomsday thread about how the Huskies will turn into little balls of pastry in their new conference due to a total lack of competition. I would guess that the majority of the BYers must believe this, even when you limit the topic to just WCBB. The topic was done to death back in early April in the Big East memorial thread, but once again the nervous nellies will trot out the usual apocalyptic thoughts without looking at any of last year's results or historical trends data or give any credence to the idea that many teams seem to bloom in UConn's shadow. And as noted, not only have a lot of the teams joining the AAC accomplished feats in the last 10 years that would put to shame most of the BEast mates that UConn's kissing off, but a team like Stanford seems to do pretty well year after year even though it is mired in a weak conference (again the PAC was well behind the ratings last year for the "virtual assemblage" 2012-13 AAC) and always has a schedule strength somewhere down in the 20-30 range. Yeah, I know, Tara does it with mirrors and Geno somehow doesn't have that magical style. Right.

We are dooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooooomed!

 

[Woof 101]

Conference schedule is basically meaningless. I find it a little unsettling to see so many UConn fans complaining about the strength of the conference schedule. Reminds me too much of Tennessee fans.

The only thing that has ever mattered when it comes to strength of schedule is whether you play most of the very best teams in the country so that you know where you stand against other national championship contenders. A team can have a great RPI playing in the Big 12 and be no better off as a national championship contender because they never actually play a true elite team. Geno has made of point scheduling elite teams (He could care less about teams outside the top 10-15) and managed to do that even back when the Big East was considered a weak conference, which wasn't really so long ago. UConn playing the best teams in the country isn't going to change, particularly when UConn has a partner in ESPN to make those games happen.

Sad you feel this way Scotter, you not only disagree with myself but Geno and most others. To say a conference schedule does not matter is simply silly. The conference makes up the bulk of any teams schedule like it or not. That and recruiting goes down hill with playing time.

Just how long do you think five high school all Americans will sit on the bench so they do not beat West Over Shoe State by 100? This and share the ball in our wonderful team concept?

I admit ignorance here, could you please get back with a link where and when we partnered with ESPN, I missed that one.

 

[Scotter]

Sad you feel this way Scotter, you not only disagree with myself but Geno and most others. To say a conference schedule does not matter is simply silly. The conference makes up the bulk of any teams schedule like it or not. That and recruiting goes down hill with playing time.

Just how long do you think five high school all Americans will sit on the bench so they do not beat West Over Shoe State by 100? This and share the ball in our wonderful team concept?

Geno does not disagree with me on this. Certainly not if you look at the full weight of the comments he has made over the last 20 years. Particularly as in the past some of his accomplishments were often attacked for supposedly being achieved in a weaker conference.

How long will top recruits still come? For at least as long Geno wants to coach for starters. You really think players care if they're beating Syracuse by 25 or Memphis by 40? Why hasn't beating Providence and Seton Hall by 100 been an alternative? You do realize that most of these high school players are used to winning high school games by huge blowouts where they only play have the game. KML regularly won HS games by 50 plus for example.

They come to UConn to win national championships. They come to play for the best coach in at least women's basketball and get the best preparation for a professional career. They come because there will be thousands of people in the stands watching them play everywhere they go. They come because every game they play will be on TV with national TV games against the likes of Stanford, Duke, etc. They come to play in Gampel where all those banners hang on the wall. Or in other words to sum up the last couple of sentences, they come to play on the biggest stage in women's basketball. None of that is changing for at least the foreseeable future.

I admit ignorance here, could you please get back with a link where and when we partnered with ESPN, I missed that one.

ESPN retained the rights the AAC conference games. That is the formal partnership, but anyone that paid attention can recognize the informal partnership which is much more profound dating back to the first UConn/Tennessee game in 1995. ESPN has an ongoing commitment to women's basketball both with the rights to the women's NCAA tournament and the WNBA. UConn is one of only two women's programs that has a true national fan base. As such ESPN needs UConn as a cornerstone of their national women's basketball coverage. That is going to change with the move to the AAC anything soon. And Geno has smartly strengthened that partnership by always agreeing to play anyone and anywhere ESPN wants even if that means playing 4 high profile non-conference games during the conference season. While many other coaches like Kim Mulkey complain about ESPN wanting them to play just 1 high profile non-conference games during the conference season. Particularly in recent years ESPN has played a huge role in shaping UConn's non-conference schedule when it comes to the handful to top non-conference games. ESPN was instrumental in making the Baylor and Maryland series happen for example. Both schools that had shown no interest in playing UConn in the past until ESPN pushed for it in their pursuit of scheduling the best quality non-conference games. There's a mutual beneficial informal partnership that exists between UConn and ESPN, and that also won't change any time soon.

 

[DobbsRover2]

You not only disagree with myself but Geno and most others. To say a conference schedule does not matter is simply silly.

So you have Geno in your holy doomsday camp? Tell us a few more yucks. Again, just so you have a clue:

• Stanford and California both played in a crap conference last year that was worse than next year's AAC. Stanford is a traditional FF team over the years and a #1 seed last year even while having diddly to play against, and Cal made the FF this past year with the 45th best schedule. They are both doooooooooooooomed!
• UConn once played in a conference as weak as the PAC 15-20 years ago and at times after and despite the low-fiber conference diet they did well for themselves, and of course a lot of those weak teams that many basketball experts wrote off as being forever abysmal got pretty good in the following years. And when some new creampuffy teams like Louisville entered the conference to the general dismay of many BEast fans, they went on to pretty decent results like making the NC game a few times. But this will never ever happen again, so we are doooooooooooooomed!
• The AAC group of teams for next year includes the two teams from the NC game, an old stalwart Rutgers (for whatever they're worth), a USF team that was rated in the top 30 in the nation last year, plus a group of teams like Tulane at 23-9, SMU (21-10), and East Carolina (20-10) who showed they can win a few games. But they and the other newcomers will never have a chance to shine because you say so, so they are doooooooooooooomed!
• Just based on last year's performance, the teams for the AAC are more competitive than at least one of other big-money conferences and could certainly challenge some of the other underachievers. With one year to get in the flow around the UConn anchor before Louisville and Rutgers scamper off, there is good reason to believe the AAC in it's extended format could be ready to hit the ground running against the money-sucking conferences, but I guess they can't because their recruiting has to be in life-support mode by then and you think they are dooooooooooooooooooooooomed!

Right, all that matters is that conference schedule and overall SOS, like the #5 best slate that the Longhorns took with them to their 12-18 grave last season or the #8 slate that helped WVU get a quick exit in the tourney. And the fact that BEast teams won 5 NCs between 2000 and 2004 even while their conference rated often as the 5th or 6th best group is just an old oddity that can't mean anything going forward.

You can stand in the waves ringing the doomsday bell, but the tide is still going to rise.

 

[Phil]

• 
  [ ]Stanford and California both played in a crap conference last year that was worse than next year's AAC. Stanford is a traditional FF team over the years and a #1 seed last year even while having diddly to play against, and Cal made the FF this past year with the 45th best schedule. They are both doooooooooooooomed!

You raise some interesting points, but let me suggest a contrary view.

Some people think that while Stanford has had a very impressive run—five consecutive Final Fours is still a rare event—that Stanford also failed to "turn it up to 11" in that period, and maybe a soft PAC-10/12 schedule hurt a bit. It doesn't take much to take off a bit of an edge.

Stanford did win NC in 90 and 92. In 1990, they had a tough conference rival in Washington, who ended up ranked #3 in the nation. Stanford lost to Washington in the regular season, the only loss of the season, and maybe Washington was their Notre Dame, an in-conference rival who pushed them to a level that gave them the edge to win the whole thing that year.

 

[UcMiami]

When you look at WCBB in general, the 'strong' conferences have a lot of deadwood and the middle tends to be pretty mediocre as well. Uconn and other top conference teams just don't lose and seldom have competitive games against most of the rest of their conference schedule. So looking forward, not much will change for Uconn. They will not play ND twice a year, but ND was only competitive in the regular season for the last few years, before that they were just another walk over team on our schedule.
And whatever conference we are in the other teams greatly benefits from playing Uconn in terms of RPI and SOS even if they get blown out - without the cache of losing to Uconn a few of the teams making the NCAA from the BE would probably not have been selected. The same will probably happen for the new AAC teams.

 

[UcMiami]

You raise some interesting points, but let me suggest a contrary view.

Some people think that while Stanford has had a very impressive run—five consecutive Final Fours is still a rare event—that Stanford also failed to "turn it up to 11" in that period, and maybe a soft PAC-10/12 schedule hurt a bit. It doesn't take much to take off a bit of an edge.

Stanford did win NC in 90 and 92. In 1990, they had a tough conference rival in Washington, who ended up ranked #3 in the nation. Stanford lost to Washington in the regular season, the only loss of the season, and maybe Washington was their Notre Dame, an in-conference rival who pushed them to a level that gave them the edge to win the whole thing that year.

I think Stanford's biggest problem SOS wise is that most of the competitive teams over the last xx years have been east of the Mississippi or in Texas, making road trips for OOC really tough to schedule during conference play. It is much easier for eastern teams to find 'local' competition at 'overnight' or road trip distance.
And Cal has been pretty good in conference for most of the last 5 years not dissimilar to Washington of old.
Finally - the FF teams they faced over those 5 years were very impressive teams. The one loss that they should probably have won on paper was to TN, but they had just beaten us.

 

[alexrgct]

You raise some interesting points, but let me suggest a contrary view.

Some people think that while Stanford has had a very impressive run—five consecutive Final Fours is still a rare event—that Stanford also failed to "turn it up to 11" in that period, and maybe a soft PAC-10/12 schedule hurt a bit. It doesn't take much to take off a bit of an edge.

Stanford did win NC in 90 and 92. In 1990, they had a tough conference rival in Washington, who ended up ranked #3 in the nation. Stanford lost to Washington in the regular season, the only loss of the season, and maybe Washington was their Notre Dame, an in-conference rival who pushed them to a level that gave them the edge to win the whole thing that year.

Possible but not provable with regards to Stanford, as we can't go back and see how they would have fared against a tougher conference schedule. I'd argue though that in recent years the only championship opportunity they legitimately let get away was 2011. Beating Tennessee in 2008 would have been a tall order. Beating Uconn in 2009 or 2010 would have been a taller one (and they came closer than anyone had in 78 games of pulling it off in 2010). Again, 2012 saw Stanford pitted against a juggernaut in Baylor. And in 2013, they just weren't that good. By tourney time, they were a depleted version of the team a not-quite-ready-for-prime time Uconn team destroyed by 26 on their court. Now, 2011 was a devastating loss. They led almost the entire game, and they didn't respond well at all to A&M's late push. They seemed to sort of act like eventually A&M would just go away, but of course that didn't happen. Would a tougher conference schedule have helped? Maybe...but maybe that was just one of those fluky games.

I think UConn's willingness to play anyone and to do so throughout the season as Scotter alluded to, should help Uconn continue to compete for and win NCs. Uconn is a different animal when it comes to preparedness, execution, and overall depth of talent in most years. It's possible having a feisty ND team to lose to in-conference helped Uconn last year, but then again, it probably hurt Uconn in 2011. If Uconn played ND in the national semis without having beaten them three times earlier in the season, does ND find a way to win that game? One never knows...

 

[jplotinus]

One bit of collateral damage resulting from expressions of disrespect for uconn's AAC conference mates is that it breeds contempt for uconn. Tulsa, Houston, UCF, Tulane, Temple all have fans who peruse other blogs and boards.

Word gets around.

The sub-text that many BYers are blasting out into cyberspace, loud and clear, is:

...WE ARE TOO GOOD FOR THE LIKES OF YOU...

First of all, with football being the driver, that bit of false pride is just that, false pride. Second, even if it is claimed that no disrespect is intended and all we want is to be in a conference that has a larger ($) teevee deal, that claim is, in part at least, disingenuous and short sighted. Teevee $ will come if the AAC generates exciting games based on new rivalries. "NEW" is always a key ingredient in advertising. Why watch NCState v Clemson for the 100th time when you can see UCONN v SMU, for the first? Answer: UCONN v SMU or Tulane or Tulsa, &c just might be a better draw.

BYers who lambast the AAC need to grasp that UCONN is NOT holier than thou, them, Temple or Tulane, both of which just might kick our butts in football on a regular basis.

All that said, it is very likely that in WCBB, UCONN will both dominate for the foreseeable future as well as elevate the level of its conference mates.

 

[HGN]

Most new conferences have start-up problems....The AAC will be no different. UConn's debut in AAC play will no doubt help with name recognition , and competitive play will heat up over the season. AAC teams recruiting will also pick up having a Name team like UConn among its conference ranks . And hopefully having a AAC team in the FF will help recruiting and speed the conference into becoming a power.

 

[Icebear]

Or it will all just fade into oblivion.

 

[DobbsRover2]

You raise some interesting points, but let me suggest a contrary view.

Some people think that while Stanford has had a very impressive run—five consecutive Final Fours is still a rare event—that Stanford also failed to "turn it up to 11" in that period, and maybe a soft PAC-10/12 schedule hurt a bit. It doesn't take much to take off a bit of an edge.

Stanford did win NC in 90 and 92. In 1990, they had a tough conference rival in Washington, who ended up ranked #3 in the nation. Stanford lost to Washington in the regular season, the only loss of the season, and maybe Washington was their Notre Dame, an in-conference rival who pushed them to a level that gave them the edge to win the whole thing that year.

Still thinking that 5 straight with 2 NC games is an extremely enviable performance that kind of proves the silliness of the cupcake diet myth. Not being able to win "the big one" in an era of Parker's UTenn, Griner's Baylor, and the Moore\Charles\Montgomery\etc UConn is not something I would pin on the fatty diet of the PAC schedule but more on that it's just one game at season's end after an impressive run. The fact that the Card was able to plow through to all those to me points to their being sufficiently well tested by even the PAC-poor schedule. I would think that injury factors made an infinitely larger impact on Stanford than did too many pastry parties against OR, WA, and AZ teams. Not having Hones in 2009 or a two-legged Appel in 2010 for the FF battles with UConn have to have been more of a curse for Stanford than a February snoozer against the Ducks. And no one who saw what Stanford did to UConn in the first half of the 2010 NC game with the crippled Appel can think that they were unprepared cupcake-eating fatties. They couldn't "turn it up to 11" against Maya and Tina, but teams that had eaten thousands of boxes of Colon Blow couldn't come close to touching that UConn team.

Look, Louisville in the BEast last year was in a decently strong but apparently bottom flabby conference (#4) but they still only had the #18 rated schedule, while that UTenn team the Cardinals knocked off to go to the FF was at #6 due to that brutal #3 SEC schedule. So who folded up? The team Louisville beat before that had the #1 schedule and was in the #1 conference, but the well-tested Bears notably were not very sharp in that Elite 8 game. Did a #19 SOS schedule in 2002 or playing in the #6 rated conference in 2001 or 2004 keep UConn out of FF or NC games (I will leave it to someone else to say that the 2001 loss was due more to poor SOS than the injuries to Shea and Sveta).

Yeah, I know that there are a giant amount of BYers who hate the thought of playing in the AAC and are sure that UConn will be elsewhere in the near future. Whatever, but until that hope is declared reality, the fact-challenged hysterical bashing of the AAC for WCBB play seems more than silly. A UConn team with the clearest path to winning NCs and the best coaching staff in the country is not a destitute waif on a sinking lifeboat. It's more like the UConn U-boat with some fat tankers in its sights. File another notch on that periscope.

 

[RockyMTblue2]

One more thought about the new conference and strength of schedule and what they portend for UConn. For years we have heard UConn players, observers and commentators note that UConn's practices are tougher than almost any game. I believe that. Of course there is something different about actual game play and meeting foes whose moves are new to you and there will be enough of that in UConn's schedule. But concern that UConn will go flabby?? I think not.

 

[OneTrickPony]

I hope SMU is listening...!

 

[DobbsRover2]

I hope SMU is listening...!

SMU has won 20 or more games for 5 of the last 6 years and finished among the top 50 teams once in that span. The Mustangs are exactly the kind of team with a decent enough foundation to make a substantial climb in the AAC under better competition. It all depends on the school, because as we saw in the BEast, some teams rose to the challenge and others were content to wallow in as bottom feeders.